Hanne Finsen

Hanne Finsen (8 March 1925 – 14 September 2023) was a Danish art historian and museum director who had a special interest in French art. While at the National Gallery of Denmark, in 1970 she arranged the internationally acclaimed Henri Matisse retrospective. In 1978, she was appointed director of both the Hirschsprung Collection and the Ordrupgaard Collection. At Ordrupgaard, she presented a number of exhibitions, including those on Vilhelm Hammershoi and Édouard Manet. In 2005, in collaboration with the Musée du Luxembourg, Finsen presented "Matisse – A Second Life" at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, an exhibition focusing on the painter's later works.

Biography Born on 8 March 1925 in Copenhagen, Hanne Finsen was the daughter of the physician Valgard Finsen (1896–1980) and the sculptor Inge Ebstrup (1899–1977). Brought up in a well-to-do cultural environment, after graduating from Øregård Gymnasium in 1943, she studied history of art at the University of Copenhagen. While still a student, she helped arrange a number of exhibitions on French art at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Charlotenborg.